Office Space MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -2 1/2

OFFICE SPACE captures the common I hate my job sentiment of many Americans today with its parody of the corporate work-a-day office world. Peter (Ron Livingston) finds himself in a job at a computer company that is sapping the life out of him and he turns to an occupational hypnotherapist for help. After the hypnosis he is a completely different person who ignores his job responsibilities and actually tries to get fired. Surprisingly, management takes these as promising indications of his potential and promotes him. Then, when he finds out two of his coworkers (David Herman and Ajay Naidu) are getting laid-off , he concocts a scheme to slowly siphon away corporate funds and ensure their early retirement. Peters career woes rub off on his new love interest, Joanna (Jennifer Aniston), who also sheds the bonds of her dead end job for the more alluring pastures of personal freedom. OFFICE SPACE gives us a chance to be entertained by a lighthearted look at Americas corporate subculture. Unfortunately, the story quickly falls into absurdity, loses steam, and assures itself an obscure place in film history.

The appeal of this film is for anyone who has ever been frustrated with his job, and that applies to most Americans workers. Rush hour traffic, broken-down office equipment, the office gossip, multilayered management structures, incessant paperwork, and windowless cubicles make the work life of many persons difficult. But, in its attempt to be humorous, the film misrepresents the work situation of many happily employed Americans .It further ignores the Biblical admonition in Col. 3:23 to 'do your work heartily , as for the Lord rather than for men(ASB)'. This could encourage viewers to see their jobs in a negative way. At the same time, Peter and Joanna learn some hard won lessons about responsibility , personal fulfillment, and the potentially devastating backlash of illegal get-rich quick plans. But the dialogue suffers from much crude sexually suggestive humor, 35 f and s words and several regular profanities. A sex scene and female breast nudity are also included. All these offensive elements and a potentially misleading message overpower the rather limited redeeming values of this crude comedy.

Preview Reviewer: Cliff McNeely
Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox, Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213, (310) 369-1602